Electropolishing of inkjet printer components is known, see, for example, European Patent Application Publication EP 0 854 040 A2, published on Jul. 22, 1998, and is used to remove burrs, EDM splatter, flakes, etc. produced during the manufacturing processes used to fabricate these components.
Referring to FIG. 1, EP 0 854 040 A2 discloses an electropolishing process in which an electrode 10 are positioned inside a fluid cavity 12, commonly referred to as a bore, of a drop generator body 14. Typically, electrode 10 is a wire or small diameter rod and is secured in place with a fixture (not shown) at both ends of drop generator body 14. Drop generator body 14 along with electrode 10 is then immersed in an electropolishing solution and an appropriate voltage applied between drop generator body 14 and electrode 10 to affect electropolishing of the inkjet printer component.
While positioning internal electrode 10 within fluid cavity 12 of drop generator body 14 can be accomplished relatively easily, placement of an electrode in fluid passageway 16, commonly referred to as a slot, has been problematic. Fluid passageway 16 is sufficiently narrow, for example, approximately 0.015 inches wide in some drop generator bodies, that the risk of accidental contact between electrode 10 and drop generator body 14 becomes significant. Any such contact occurring during the electropolishing process can produce an electrical short and arcing that will destroy the drop generator.
Additionally, a gap between electrode 10 and the walls of the slot must be sufficiently large to allow electrolytic fluid to flow through the gap between the walls of fluid passageway 16 and electrode 10. It is difficult to accomplish this without significantly increasing the risk of electrode 10 contacting drop generator body 14. Also, fluid passageway 16 does not extent to the ends of the drop generator body 14. As such, fixtures located at the ends of fluid passageway 14 can not be used to retain electrode 10 in position within fluid passageway 16.
Accordingly, EP 0 854 040 A2 discloses a pulsing technique in which the electropolishing solution is pulsed in order to electropolish regions of the inkjet printer component, like fluid passageway 16, that can not accommodate electrode 10. However, it has been found that using the pulsing technique can produce inconsistent results depending on the characteristics and dimensions of fluid passageway 16.
Accordingly, a need exists to be able to electropolish inkjet printer components that traditionally are unable to accommodate positioning of an electrode within the component.